Are punters being disrespected in horse racing?

Extremely late scratchings when horses have been dual accepted are a current issue of debate in the racing world, as it influences the speed maps and deductions from a race, adding an extra variable of difficulty to the punting game.

A dual acceptor is a horse who has been entered in two different races, often on the same day, in a bid to find the horse the more suitable race where they will have a better chance of winning.

Giddy Up host Gareth Hall admitted that he understands why trainers and owners double accept, but when the horse hasn’t been scratched from one of the races near the 9am deadline, then it is disrespectful to the punters.

“I understand why trainers and owners scratch their horses and double accept,” Hall told SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.

“And I understand why they can leave it to the last minute because you can get a situation, and it's very rare, like at Geelong (Cup Day) where the meeting gets called off because of the wind conditions.

“That gives you opportunities to go somewhere else without scratching.

“But what I get annoyed at, and I think everybody can take responsibility with this - owners, but especially the trainers - is that when you've got horses still in a race that haven't been scratched, when you know that they're competing in Sydney and they're down to run in a Melbourne race, and they still haven't been scratched at 7:28am, I just think that's taken the p--- really.

“It’s disrespecting the punters in a way.”

Expert racing tipster David Gately agreed with Hall’s synopsis on the issue, especially because gambling is a huge funder of the racing industry.

“I think that's true,” agreed Gately.

“I understand your point around waiting till the last minute if a meeting gets called off, but I look at it a little bit differently.

“There needs to be a mandated scratching deadline and if the meeting gets called off, bad luck.

“Let's protect the punters - they know the race, they know the speed map, they know who's running, they don't get cop deductions, they don't bet in 120% of whatever market it is.

“There's plenty of other races for these horses. If we're putting owners, and I've been an owner since 1995, if we're putting owners ahead of punters, it's just wrong.

“They can find another race because they race 17 times a day, and there's 10 race cards, don't start me.”

Racing trainer Wayne Hawkes couldn’t agree with the opinions of Hall or Gately though.

He explained what the dual accepting rule is and why it is important for trainers, while also emphasising that punters should complete two separate forms instead.

See Hawkes’ take on the debate below: